HBA-TBM C.S.H.B. 957 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 957 By: Burnam County Affairs 2/19/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, the fee a county or public health district may charge for restaurant health inspections is limited to $150 or the highest fee charged by a municipality in the county, whichever amount is less. This fee often does not cover the cost of inspections, based on the time and personnel required to conduct them. C.S.H.B. 957 authorizes a county or heath district to adopt a variable scale with a maximum limit of $300 to determine the appropriate fee. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 957 amends the Health and Safety Code to authorize a county or public health district to adopt, by rule or order, a variable scale to determine the fee charged for issuing or renewing a permit for a food service establishment, retail food store, mobile food unit, or roadside vendor (establishment). The county or health district is authorized to consider an establishment's size, gross sales, and the number of employees when adopting a variable scale. The bill prohibits the fee charged as a result of a variable scale from being more than $300. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute differs from the original bill by keeping the existing maximum fee charged at $150 unless the county or health district adopts, by rule or order, a variable scale for determining the amount of the fee, in which case the maximum fee is $300.